New Ways to Plan Your Kitchen’s Work Zones

The classic work triangle of range, fridge and sink is the best layout for kitchens, right? Not necessarily

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Houzz UK Contributor. LWK Kitchens are a design-led German Kitchen specialist based... More

Many designers plan kitchen layouts using the traditional work triangle, with the refrigerator, range and sink arranged in a roughly triangular formation. Developed in the 1940s, the kitchen triangle came about as a way to reduce unnecessary steps between appliances and improve kitchen efficiency.

While it can work very well, this classic method also has some limitations, and it doesn’t work for every kitchen. It also assumes there are only three appliances (fridge, range and sink), whereas most modern kitchens now include multiple appliances. So it might be time to look at an alternative way of zoning your kitchen to achieve your perfect design.

Zones in a kitchen are the separate work sites within a layout, each intended for a different task or activity. The primary zones are those for preparing food, cooking and washing up.

Depending on your space and preferences, additional zones can be set up. These might include areas for serving and eating food, as pictured above, where the eating area is separate from the cooking area, and zones for working or studying, or for watching TV. You might even want a separate spot for pets.

The purpose of kitchen zones is to maximize both the space and ease of use, while retaining a good look.

The prep zone. The kitchen prep zone is really important, as this is where we spend around 70 percent of our time when using our kitchens. It should include an ample work surface for completing everyday tasks, including chopping, peeling, mixing, making a sandwich and more.

Your storage units and fridge should be in close range of the prep worktop, allowing easy access to ingredients, utensils, pots and pans. Similarly, compost, recycling and trash bins should be located within the prep zone, so you can easily dispose of peelings and packaging without having to cross a kitchen and risk messy spills on the floor.

The cooking zone. The kitchen cook zone typically contains the oven(s), stove, extractor, warming drawer(s) and any other cooking-related appliances. Ideally, the cook zone should sit adjacent to the prep zone, as pictured, or opposite it.

You should easily be able to lift newly prepared food into a pan or place it in the oven from your prep work surface. Importantly, this will mean there will be less distance for hot food to travel back to the countertop from the oven or stove — safer for both you as the cook and other household members, since you won’t have to cross a kitchen while carrying hot food.

Island or galley layout? If the cook zone is opposite the prep zone, such as in a galley or an island layout, the range and sink should be slightly staggered rather than directly opposite each other. This means you’ll turn through fewer degrees between your appliance and sink.

This is not only the most efficient arrangement, it’s also safer; when you’re turning from stove to sink to drain your piping-hot rice or vegetables, this staggering allows a clear line of sight should anyone else enter the kitchen, reducing the likelihood of accidents and burns.

Cleaning zone. The wash zone typically includes the sink and dishwasher. Around 20 percent of our time in the kitchen is spent clearing up after ourselves, yet there’s no fun in this, so it pays to plan an efficient setup, letting you finish up quickly and get back to relaxing.

Ideally, your wash zone should be separated from the prep and cook zone, although having your trash and compost bins within reach of the sink and dishwasher makes it easy to scrape, rinse and load plates. Similarly, wall cabinets should be within arm’s reach, making unloading a dishwasher full of mugs, plates and glassware an easy task.

If your kitchen design means you’ll avoid traipsing back and forth across the room carrying things, you’ll be done faster. It will also be safer, since there’s less risk of breakage or someone’s tripping over an open dishwasher door.

During the initial concept stage of planning a kitchen, talk with your kitchen designer about what you want and how you use, or would like to use, your kitchen. He or she can then assess the space to establish the best layout for achieving that, effecting a smooth flow from one work zone to the next.

Ideally the zones will flow in this order of use:

Refrigerator

Work space and prep zone

Cook zone

Serving zone or table

Wash zone

This order is evident in the kitchen plan above; the workflow moves counterclockwise from prep zone to cook zone, serving area and washing-up zone.

This kitchen was designed for a busy family home with two enthusiastic cooks, who were also keen to retain a clean and tidy kitchen. To facilitate this, and because space permitted, we included an abundance of storage options. This included a LeMans full-height corner storage unit by Hacker to maximize otherwise dead space, as well as additional storage along the left-hand wall.

While they had a separate dining room for main meals, the family requested a breakfast bar where they could serve food and enjoy quick snacks, and where the kids could do their homework.

It’s worth noting that the fridge is sited clear of the cooking zone.Refrigerators will often appear on the periphery of a kitchen, as it makes them easily accessible for hungry family members while keeping people out of the cook’s way.

Overlapping zones. Zone overlapping usually occurs if space is restricted, but this can work just fine as long as there is sufficient workspace for each activity. For example, an overlap of the prep and cook zone is common, consisting of work surface on either side of a stove or oven. This allows separate areas for preparing food as well as setting it down after cooking, so the zone overlap doesn’t impede the user.

However, some overlaps of the principle zones should be avoided where possible. This includes an overlap of the prep and wash zones.

Imagine you decide to make dessert following a main course, but your fridge (which is integral to prepping food) infringes on the wash zone. If someone else were still clearing dinner plates, you would certainly be in their way. Equally, someone unloading a dishwasher would be under your feet as you try to whip up that dessert.

Such an overlap also doesn’t work because dirty dishes easily become lost among those still being used for food preparation.

If this is unavoidable in a small kitchen, then the sink should separate the prep area from the wash zone, as pictured in this compact but well-organized space.

Bending the rules. As with overlapping zones, you don’t have to follow the exact workflow as detailed above, as long as the format remains close. For example, the refrigerator could be moved out of the prep zone and separated from it by the cook zone, as in this kitchen. These zones are similar, so it doesn’t impact the workflow too much.

Essentially, kitchen zoning is based on a designer’s knowledge of aesthetics, usability and efficiency, but the beauty of this approach is that there’s room for flexibility.

Kitchen design and kitchen products have changed significantly since the dawn of the work triangle in the 1940s. More than this, not all kitchen spaces are the same, and neither are users’ needs.

Ultimately, it’s your kitchen and you who has to use it, so when working with a designer, don’t be afraid to ask for changes to the suggested layout and work zones. Modifying the flow can work (and if any requested changes impact too heavily on its success, a good designer will advise you of this). This will ensure that you can make a fully informed decision to achieve a perfectly personalized kitchen layout.

Tell us about your kitchen’s work zones: Have you created a different work zone for how you use your kitchen? Please share your tips and photos in the Comments below.

Fizzfan54 you won't get any abuse from me. I certainly use my tea towels more than once and, shock horror, I wipe the worktops down with them too, also I never use antibacterial wipes. Still here 74 years later and the only time I have ever had a stomach upset was after eating fish in a restaurant. I guess our immune systems are very robust because we have "eaten a peck of dirt".

Re zones... it depends 'how' you cook, dunnit? I can't face guests or family and chat, else I'd salt when I should sugar, or vice versa. Need to concentrate when cooking! *sigh* don't get old, chidlins!

Actually, I can't think of anything worse than someone talking to me when cooking - annoying! Unless I am making a mess with friends, and we're not doing 'precision' cooking - otherwise known as pfaffing! Have taught a couple of impromptu curry classes in this kitchen now. Great having the huge island clear so everyone can prep at once.

GREAT ARTICLE, THANK YOU! I was getting slammed for my draft kitchen layout posted in design dilemma and I had a zoned kitchen layout. Everything your article stated and comments confirmed the way I personally work in my kitchen has your support. So many of the “Pros” are focused on the triangle or cooktop on the island, ugh. Zones make sense. Thank you!